Years ago for Sunday, Sep 09, 2012

Sept. 6, 2012 at 4:06 a.m.Updated Sept. 10, 2012 at 4:10 a.m.

1912

Sept. 9 - Charles Bruns, lately elected mayor of Seguin, is here on a visit to August Wedemeier, his wife's cousin. Mayor Bruns enjoyed a chat with Mayor Craig this morning, and each gave the other valuable pointers on municipal government. Mayor Bruns stated in the course of his conversation with this city's executive that his little city possesses a two-story central fire station costing $6,000. Seguin, he said, has only one paid fireman and one pair of fire horses, while Victoria, which has no such station, has three paid firemen, two pairs of fire horses and much more fire apparatus.

Sept. 10 - H.D. Hall arrived in Victoria this morning in a Brush car on a trip from New York City to the City of Mexico, he having left New York on June 20, and had traveled so far 2,700 miles. Mr. Hall's auto is rated as the fastest one cylinder car in America, it having established that record in the recent Indianapolis and Terre Races.

Sept. 13 - During 35 of the last 49 days, or since July 26, the maximum temperature in Victoria, according to the records of Chas. C. Zirjacks, the local U.S. weather observer, has ranged between 100 and 105 degrees. That is the most prolonged spell of heat in this city Mr. Zirjacks' records show.

1937

Sept. 12 - There will be a barbecue dinner Sunday, Sept. 19, at the Sisters Villa for the benefit of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Serving will begin at 11:30 a.m. Everybody is invited to come out and enjoy a splendid dinner for the nominal price of 35 cents.

Sept. 13 - Victoria National Bank employees today spent their first day in the completed side of the handsome new bank building. And it was a pleasure, we might add.

Sept. 14 - A 1929 model Essex sedan valued at approximately $25 and owned by J.A. Lawrence brought out the fire department at 2:15 this morning when the car caught fire on West River Street. Damage was estimated at about $10.

1962

Sept. 11 - The possibility of conducting regular chapel services for patients at Citizens Memorial Hospital will be investigated by the Victoria County Ministerial Alliance. This was voted upon Monday at a meeting of Alliance members at Mammy's Cafeteria. The Rev. Gerald N. McAllister, chairman, presided at the meeting and named the Rev. R.L. Mathison and the Rev. James Vermillion as committee chairmen.

Sept. 10 - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Wednesday pledged nearly $1 billion to prop up a failing Texas bank holding company in the second largest government rescue of a bank.

The FDIC gave preliminary approval to a plan that would pump $970 million into the Houston-based First City Bancorp. of Texas, which has been hit hard by losses on oil and real estate loans.

Control of the bank company, Texas' fourth largest, will pass to a group of investors headed by A. Robert Abboud, a former banking executive who operates an investment firm in suburban Chicago.

Abboud's group will inject $500 million into the restructured company by selling stock.

The package is the second largest bank rescue in the history of the FDIC. The agency pumped $4.5 billion into Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust of Chicago in 1984 and effectively became its owner when it could not find private investors.

Sept. 12 - DuPont has installed what it believes is a one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art fire protection system at its barge canal dock, and Friday held a live test of its equipment before a group of DuPont personnel and guests.

DuPont senior fire control training specialist Lannie E. Hatton said the planning and installation of the system took three and a half years, and the total cost of the project was just under $1 million. Costs were reduced by having the work performed by DuPont personnel and contractors.

"We looked at a lot of systems, and talked to a lot of vendors," said Hatton, adding DuPont engineer Kathy Rodriguez and All-States Engineers of Houston played roles in developing the system.

The system was custom designed to suit the specific needs of DuPont's operations on the barge canal. The effectiveness of the new system is so great that for every 11 men it would have once taken to combat a fire, now only one would be needed, said Hatton.

Because of strict on-plant safety regulations, Hatton said, odds are unlikely the system will ever be used. To his knowledge, there has never been a fire emergency at the dock area. However, DuPont decided a new system was in order, considering the old system was at least 30 years old and technically outdated.

Also taken into consideration by DuPont was the fact that each week, some 12 to 15 barges unload at the dock, carrying such chemicals as adiponitrile, butadiene, cyclohexane, caustics and ammonia. Barges are restricted to which piers they can dock at, depending upon what they are carrying. Pier 1, for example, is restricted to cyclohexane, and also sees the largest volume of material, said James E. Borden Jr., DuPont area safety superintendent.

Sept. 14 - Pope John Paul II, feted with mariachis, a Stetson and a longhorn steer, greeted the largest crowds of his current U.S. tour Sunday with plaudits for Texans' spirit.

In the first visit a pope has ever made to Texas, the pontiff cruised past the Alamo in his Popemobile after calling the state a symbol of America's "founding moral principles" and urging citizens of all races to work together.

Late Sunday afternoon, a cheering crowd of about 325,000 lined city streets as the papal motorcade wended toward San Fernando Cathedral past the former Catholic mission, renowned in film and lore as the cradle of Texas liberty.